Real Madrid: Debunking the 5 biggest myths about Zinedine Zidane as a manager

2. Zidane needs a squad full of world-class players or a Cristiano Ronaldo

Zidane’s incredible success as a manager has also been attributed to the fact that the Real Madrid squad he inherited comprised a lot of world-class players, and some once in a lifetime players who were in their prime. Players do deserve every bit of appreciation, but in Zidane’s case, the focus is easily shifted from the manager. It feels a bit unfair to Zidane because he has never been given the respect a manager who won a single Champions League title in a decade has been given.

Coming back to debunking the myth, Zidane’s achievements speak for themselves and provide us with the evidence to debunk the myth. Critics often spoke about Cristiano Ronaldo winning everything for Zidane, but Zidane proved everyone wrong by winning a LaLiga title with a Ronaldo-less Real Madrid team that was still recovering from a terrible 2018/19 season, and also took the team to the semifinals of the 2020/21 Champions League semifinals. It also speaks about the genius of Zidane, who deployed a system that is built on his team’s defensive solidity after losing 40+ goals per season goalscorer, and used it successfully.

And regarding the presence of other top-class players like Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema, Luka Modric and co., it is a blessing for every manager to have such players. But it also depends on how the manager uses those players. Carlo Ancelotti of 2014/15 and Rafa Benitez had pretty much the same core that Zidane inherited, but they weren’t able to win everything with that team. Zidane simply knew how to use those players, and how to win trophies with that set of players. He knew how he could use Isco ahead of Bale to gain greater control of the game, and exploit the spaces in the midfield, and many more things.

One can also observe the fact that utility players like Lucas Vazquez and Nacho got to play a lot of minutes under Zidane, in some cases more minutes than big-named players. He also knew how to beat one of the most reputed tacticians in Jurgen Klopp by using a 20-year-old Vinicius Jr, and a post-ACL Marco Asensio along with a Lucas Vazquez playing out of position. He also knew when and where and how to use a particular player, and rotate the team. He had to go into big games with many of his experienced players unavailable, but he always returned victorious with the three points in the bag.

This only proves one thing. Having a team is not enough, you’ve got to know how to use them. And Zidane also knew how to win games with any set of players.